The Problem
of Southern Italy

The country's social conditions were marked by a strong contrast
between rural and urban environments. The south saw frequent
protests by the peasants over the burden of taxation (such as
the notorious milling tax), while the industrial proletariat
gradually organized itself into political associations and trade
unions. From the latter there arose in 1892 the foundation of
the Partito Socialista, partly drawn from anarchic and equalitarian
movements, and then in 1896 the Democrazia Cristiana party was
established, inspired by the principles in the `Rerum novarum'
of Leo XIII published in 1891. The participation of the outstanding
representatives of these movements to parliamentary activities
greatly enlivened political debate, which had been limited in
the first decades of national unity to the differences between
the deputies of the old right monarchists and liberals and the
left republicans and reformists.